Medical Tourism in Greece | Advantages
Medical Tourism in Greece? What’s the advantages?
The more communication increases between people all over the world, the smaller the world seems. These times, people travel a lot and a large number of them can live and work in different parts of the world during their lives. Services have been internationalized, and this applies to medical services as well. Greece is one of the most important destinations for what is called “medical tourism”, where specialized doctors provide health services to people who are not residents of Greece.
About Tourism in Greece
The term “medical tourism” includes two words, the word “medicine” and the word “tourism”. Both of these services in Greece are very important and of high quality. It is universally known that Greece is a leading destination for worldwide tourists. Greece is widely known to offer a sublime environment of exceptional natural beauty, very clean seas and beaches, excellent hotel infrastructure and very important archaeological sites of global interest that many want to visit. These are complemented by the exceptional climatic conditions of Greece, the friendliness and hospitality of its people and safety. Furthermore, all these statements are complemented by the fact that Greece is part of Europe and therefore governed by the rules of the European Union regarding the operation and legislation.
About Medicine in Greece
As for the medical sector, Greece is perhaps less known than it is for tourism but nevertheless is internationally recognized as a country with a very high quality level of medicine. It is a fact that medicine was very high in the priorities of Greek people from the ancient Greece and Hippocrates times.
There are many reasons why the level of medicine in Greece is quite high. It is no coincidence that Greece has one of the highest average life expectancy levels internationally and one of the world’s lowest levels of infant mortality, better than the USA.
High Quality Level of Medicine in Greece
The reasons why the level of medicine in Greece is very high can be described as follows:
• The Greeks always gave particular attention to their health, they put a priority and had enough money preserving and maintaining their good health.
• A large proportion of Greek doctors have worked abroad in different parts of the world and thus they have gained international experience, which they carry with them back in Greece.
• In Greece there is a high level of competition in the medical field. This results in increasing investments in the field of medical research and knowledge, machinery and necessary equipment, buildings and hospital infrastructure.
• The levels of service quality of private hospitals in Greece is very high for two reasons: 1) there is an intense competition between all private hospitals and 2) Greece, as a member of EU, has to follow strict standards, guidelines and regulations in order to provide high level services in the healthcare system.
For all the above reasons, Greece stands as an ideal medical tourism destination worldwide. Furthermore, Greece is a place in a central location between Europe and the East which makes it very easily accessible. It is no coincidence that a large crowd of people from all over the world come to Greece and receive medical services.
This, in conjunction with the reasonable and affordable cost of medical services in Greece has led to a continuously growing number of non-Greeks who are looking for a medical service in Greece, receiving a top-level service and come back for more.
Epameinondas Christopoulos, MD, MTEC
